The Accessions to Repositories programme: Guidance Notes

The programme annually surveys records received by collecting archives during the calendar year. Participating archives are asked to report all new accessions. This allows for accurate analysis of trends and collecting practices. However, please do not include any personally sensitive data. To enable more comprehensive analysis of accessions records, we ask participating repositories to use the updated template and read the guidance below. Please see the section ‘what will happen to the information you send us’ for more details on how we use accessions data.

Please do not modify the subject line when replying to the invite email as the subject allows us to identify and process returns more dynamically.

Taking Part

Invitations to participate are sent out in early December to repositories known to be actively collecting beyond their own institutional records. If you usually participate but have not received an invitation by the middle of December, please contact us.

Please use the template attached to your invitation email to aid our processing of the data.

The template is also available via http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/projects-and-programmes/accessions/

The deadline

Complete the updated Accessions return template and send it to NRA.Accessions@nationalarchives.gov.uk by 01 February 2021.

This deadline allows for sufficient time to process and analyse the information gathered.

What information is collected for the survey?

The survey aims to collect information on all newly accessioned material to gather a full snapshot of collecting patterns across the sector.

Please mark newly accessioned records that you believe to have the most evidential, cultural or societal impact in the ‘collections highlight’ column in the template.

The template

We ask all repositories to use the template provided. Please contact us if this is a problem. Please do not add to or change the order of columns in the template, as this will adversely affect our ability to process and analyse the data; we rely on the format being as uniform as possible.

All returns must include the following details: ARCHON number This can be found by searching Discovery, via http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-home and will be included in the subject line of your email.

Creator of records As far as possible, this should include full name, dates, epithet (e.g. occupation), descriptor and/or function for any entities (corporate bodies, families or individuals) that created the records. More details will help us to disambiguate creators, add information to our resources and link between related collections. Please note the creator is not necessarily the same as the depositor.

Summary description Brief information about the records.

Covering dates The covering dates for the whole collection, preferably in the format yyyy-yyyy (e.g. 1858-1957).

ISAD (G) reference number and/or accession reference The collection reference number and/or accession reference.

Quantity The extent of the collection being accessioned in this year. Please use linear metres where possible or give a general sense of the material (e.g. “1 box”). Try not to mix units. For digital collections, please give the quantity in Mb or Gb.

Additional deposit? Is the deposit an addition to an existing collection in your repository? If yes, please provide the reference number.

Returns should include the following additional details:

Collection highlight? Let us know the highlights of your collecting over the past year. Please also use this field to flag records you would like us to highlight in our communications with researchers and the sector.

Catalogue link A permanent URL. This is a web address that will consistently point to your specific information resource such as an entry in an online catalogue.

Keywords A handful of words reflecting the main themes covered by the content of the documents comprising the collection. This will enable us to surface themes and trends when analysing the data.

Mark up For internal use only, please leave blank.

We send the same template to all contributing archives. If your archive service is not a Place of Deposit, please ignore the blue ‘Fields for public records only’ section of the template.

Please let us know as soon as possible if your archive service has not received any deposits during the past year, or does not have the capacity to complete a return.

### Example template:

**Accessions Return**

*Move the cursor over the headings in the table for more guidance.*

| ARCHON Number | Repository Name | Creator of the records including full name, dates, epithet, descriptor and/or function. | Summary description | Covering dates | ISAD(G) reference code | Quantity of accessioned collection\* | Additional deposit? (Y/N) | Collection highlight? (Y/N) | Persistent URL of catalogue entry | Keywords | Public Record? (Y/N) | Transferring body for public records only (note that the creator and transferring body may not always be the same) | Quantity in linear metres of public records dated 1994 and earlier | Quantity in Mb or Gb of born-digital public records dated 1994 and earlier | Quantity in Mb or Gb of born-digital public records dated 1995 to 2004 | Quantity in Mb or Gb of born-digital public records dated 2005 to present | Mark up (internal use) | |---------------|-----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------------|----------|-------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------| | 41 | EXAMPLE London Metropolitan Archives | EXAMPLE Woolwich Infirmary | theatre registers | 1970-1984 | HOB/R5 | 4 linear metres; 8.2Gb | Y | N | n/a | heart surgery, biopsy, transplant | Y | Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust | 4 | 0 | 3.7Gb | 4.5 | | 143 | EXAMPLE Birmingham: Archives, Heritage and Photography Service | EXAMPLE Richard Lloyd & Co Ltd, tool manufacturers, Birmingham | digital records | 1901-2000 | MS 4767 | 4.8 Gb | N | Y | n/a | drills, lawnmowers, bankruptcy | N | | | | | | | | 214 | EXAMPLE Glamorgan Archives | EXAMPLE Bridgend and Glamorgan Valleys Coroner | post mortem papers and inquest file | 1950-1999 | CORB | 1m | Y | N | n/a | | | | | | | | | | | | 14 | EXAMPLE Cambridge University: Churchill Archives Centre | EXAMPLE Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, 1874-1965, Knight, Prime Minister and Historian | personal papers with background corres and papers. Includes audio tapes of speeches. | 1945-1965 | CHUR | 20 boxes | Y | Y | | | | | | | | | | | | | 179 | EXAMPLE East Sussex Record Office | EXAMPLE Battle Magistrates' Court and Bexhill Petty Sessions | Adoption registers | 1927-2013 | 12509 | 6.5 linear metres | N | Y | n/a | maternity home, Catholic, inspections | Y | Eastbourne, Hastings and Worthing Combined Magistrates' Courts | 2 | 1 | 3.5 | | After submitting your return

What will happen to the information you send us?

- The data will primarily be used to analyse and develop a national picture of collecting patterns, and identify gaps in collecting practices. The results of this analysis will be shared with the archive sector.
- Highlights will be published in our report, with the analysis, and may also be publicised on The National Archives’ social media outlets.
- It will be used to update Discovery and will be made available for researchers online.
- Data will also be analysed to track records identified as part of our Sales Monitoring Service and monitor public records and manorial document transfers.

Please note that accessions data will be published on data.gov.uk. This will aid transparency and allow researchers access to the entire set of reported accessions.

For assistance with completing the survey, please contact Archives Sector Development at NRA.Accessions@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

More information about the programme can also be found on our website: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/projects-and-programmes/accessions/

For information about contributing to Discovery please visit our website: http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/advice-and-guidance/managing-your-collection/developing-collections/contributing-to-our-resources/.

Updated July 2020